Stopping at Slowyear
{{Short description|1991 novel by Frederik Pohl}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book|
| name = Stopping at Slowyear
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = File:StoppingAtSlowyear.jpg
| caption = First edition
| author = Frederik Pohl
| cover_artist = Rob Alexander
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| genre = Science fiction
| publisher = Axolotl Press
| release_date = 1992
| media_type = Print (hardback & paperback)
| pages = 150
| isbn = 0-553-29487-3
| oclc = 25808833
}}
Stopping at Slowyear is a 1992 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl.{{Cite web |title=Title: Stopping at Slowyear |url=https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?11824 |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=isfdb.org}}“Review of Stopping at Slowyear.” Library Journal. Library Journals, LLC, 1992.
Plot summary
Stopping at Slowyear tells the story of an interstellar cargo vessel which runs between out-of-the-way worlds, as it visits a planet called Slowyear after its 19-year-long revolution around its star.
The crew explore the local culture and find several odd customs. Among these is of a sort of death lottery as a punishment for crimes. If someone commits a crime, they are sentenced to take a pill, which depending on the severity of the infraction will have a different probability of being lethal poison.McClintock, Michael W. "The Problem of Stopping at Slowyear." Extrapolation 38, no. 4 (Winter, 1997): 304.
Slowyear's principal industry is raising sheep. During their isolation, their sheep have developed a form of scrapie which is lethal to humans without immunity.
Stopping at Slowyear addressed prion diseases years before public awareness of mad cow disease was widespread.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{ISFDB title|11824}}
{{Frederik Pohl}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stopping At Slowyear}}
Category:1991 science fiction novels
Category:American science fiction novels
Category:Novels by Frederik Pohl
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